The same area of Meiktila on April 1, 2013, showing the damage causedDigitalGlobe/AFP/Getty

Richard Lloyd ParryAsia Editor

Last updated at 12:08AM, April 2 2013

Newly released
satellite photographs have revealed the extent of the destruction which
mobs of Buddhist rioters inflicted on Muslim neighbourhoods in central Burma
late last month.

According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), the campaign group which analysed the
images, they show at least 863 destroyed or damaged buildings, in three
areas of the town of Meiktila. More than 40 people were killed and 86
injured in three days of rioting which began on 20 March, in Burma’s latest
outbreak of anti-Muslim violence.

The before and after photographs show block after block of houses and trees
have been burned to ashes,